{"291211":{"#nid":"291211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Named Tree Campus USA for Sixth Year","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJust in time for Earth Day, and for the sixth consecutive year, the Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Georgia Tech as a Tree Campus USA university.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Hyacinth Ide, associate director of landscape services, the award reaffirms that Tech is doing something right.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt highlights all the things we are doing that otherwise people would not know,\u201d Ide said. \u201cA beautiful tree canopy helps in recruiting students and faculty. Once they see the peaceful environment, they want to come in and know more about what we have [on campus].\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe award, given by the Arbor Day Foundation, is funded by a grant from Toyota.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIde and his team first heard about the award through a representative from the Forest Service, when she recruited them to apply for the recognition in 2008.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat marked the first year Georgia Tech earned a Tree Campus USA designation. Since then, the school\u2019s commitment to improving its tree collection has continued to climb. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast year, the landscaping team inventoried the trees on campus using a geographical information system, commonly referred to as GIS. In the end, the total count of trees numbered close to 12,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can locate any tree on campus, just with a handheld device,\u201d said George Robertson, construction foreman for the landscaping team. \u201cIt pinpoints the tree \u2014 it\u2019ll tell you what kind it is, how tall \u2014 and this shows us which trees we\u2019ve tended recently.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn order to earn this year\u2019s distinction, Georgia Tech demonstrated excellence in five areas of campus forest management: a tree advisory committee, a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for a campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and the sponsorship of student service-learning projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe last tenet is near and dear to Ide\u2019s heart, especially with regard to the support students showed for the tree program during this year\u2019s Tech Beautification Day. More than 1,000 students participated in the philanthropic landscaping program, which took place Saturday, March 29.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re educating a new generation to be exposed in environmental stewardship,\u201d Ide said. \u201cTo see students giving up their Saturdays to plant for the tree program, that\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EArbor Day foundation honors Tech, home to nearly 12,000 trees, with its university designation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Arbor Day foundation honors Tech, home to nearly 12,000 trees, with its university designation."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-04-21 14:49:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:15","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"291221":{"id":"291221","type":"image","title":"Campus Tree Canopy","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Campus Tree Canopy","file":{"fid":"199238","name":"tower_green.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tower_green_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tower_green_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6183319,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tower_green_0.jpg?itok=hES3hAzf"}},"62510":{"id":"62510","type":"image","title":"Tree Campus USA","body":null,"created":"1449176369","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:29","changed":"1475894531","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:11","alt":"Tree Campus USA","file":{"fid":"191482","name":"trees.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trees_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trees_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":19801,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/trees_0.jpg?itok=LK1GvgDA"}}},"media_ids":["291221","62510"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.arborday.org\/programs\/treecampususa\/","title":"Tree Campus USA"},{"url":"http:\/\/greenbuzz.gatech.edu\/","title":"Green Buzz"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"1121","name":"Tree Campus USA"},{"id":"350","name":"trees"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EElana Burton\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}